24 May So you never forget…
For years now I’ve been wanting to create a video to express what photography means to me. A way for you to understand what’s in my heart and what has led me to where I am today. After lots of chats with business friends, lots of encouragement from my staff, I finally took the time to make a video. First of all, do you know how hard it is to put feeling into words!?! It’s almost impossible. Next, everyone said, “You’ve got to keep it short and sweet.” Ok, what? Do even you know me? I don’t have short stories. (LOL) There was just no way to share this message and get the important points across in under 4 minutes. So fair warning, you’ll need a good 8 minutes to watch this video. And most importantly, try not to cry…because I cry, Every. Single. Time. I talk about my ‘why’.
There are many things I left out of the video, again- trying to keep that story short 😉 But, right now I’d like to highlight a few things I missed in the video.
- Hard drives or computer crashes.
- Facebook profile gets hacked.
- Phone die.
- We loose a loved one.
- Natural disasters – floods, fires, tornados etc.
What do all of those things have in common? I guarantee the first thing you think is – “OH NO! ALL My pictures!” Right?
Photos are the first thing we miss. They are first thing we want back, the only thing we have left of our story and our memories.
We printed our photos because we love our family and friends. We love our life. We want to remember those special people and the moment we had with them.
If you were born before the early 2000’s, Do you remember how fun it was to take a roll of film to Walmart or the photo lab? Then we waited a week for them to come back! I bet you stood at the counter and looked at that entire packet of photos before you left. Yes? You took them home so family and friends could look through them with you and relive the stories. Are those old photos in a scrapbook for you to look through? Are they stored in a box with other photos? I bet you still have them somewhere. They exist.
Now, we immediatly upload them to the internet, which don’t get me wrong – is great for distant friends and family to enjoy, but that’s it. It’s the end of that photo…. Our feeds fill up with other things and we almost forget about it. I’m guilty of it.
Do you ever look back at your photos online, or on the cloud, or on your computer? When you do look back, do you find it to be a hassle to click (or scroll) through all of them to find the one you’re looking for? I do. Have you printed any of those photos? If you haven’t, today I want you to do it. There are tons of printing places online now that make is super easy to print your photos. Take the time to do it. Take the time to share your story, so it lives forever. So that your kids and grandkids can remember.
Now, from a professional photographers standpoint I’ll talk about the digital age and the question we often receive, “Can I get just the digitals?” To be blunt- NO. I’m not going to give you “just the digitals.” Why? because I care about telling your story. I want you to have those memories in a book or on a wall. I want them somewhere in your home for you and your family to enjoy without looking into a 5″ phone screen. I’ll still share digital images online, because I want your distant family and friends to enjoy them, and I want you to back them up somewhere safe in case of one of those natural disasters….BUT, we need to start valuing and appreciating a printed photo again. I want you to have something, SO YOU NEVER FORGET!
XOXO- Anna